Political advertising before an election period should be subject to spending limits, senator argues

OTTAWA – Any advertising by federal parties just before an election should count against their campaign spending limits, says an independent senator who argues that, otherwise, Canada’s elections law kills the notion of a level playing field.

Independent Liberal Sen. Dennis Dawson says the current rules favour the party that has the most money in its election fund by allowing it to spend on campaign-style advertisements without having to worry about campaign spending limits.

With fixed election dates, no party should be able to ramp up advertising before a campaign officially begins, circumventing the country’s strict limits on what a party can spend during an election, he said.

On Wednesday, Dawson revived a private member’s bill that would, if passed, make any advertising spending in the three months before the start of a campaign count against a party’s election spending allowance. Dawson said he decided to introduce the bill now because the House of Commons is debating the government’s proposed election law changes in the Fair Elections Act.

“They should have been closing loopholes in elections spending and this is obviously one of the big ones,” Dawson said of the Fair Elections Act.

“If you want to spend it … let it be accounted for.”

Dawson introduced a similar bill in early 2011, only to watch it die when the federal election was called.

At the time, the main critic of the bill in the Senate was Conservative Sen. Irving Gerstein. The top Tory fundraiser argued the bill would suppress free speech and the ability to attract donors via advertising, while also punishing parties that are able fundraisers.

“Paid advertising is not only a legitimate form of political expression, it is in fact an extremely vital form of political expression,” Gerstein said in the Senate in March 2011. “It is the only way for parties to communicate directly with citizens en masse without going through the filter of the mainstream media.”

While the Tories currently have a sizable war chest, Dawson said the Liberals could be on top by October 2015 when the next election is scheduled and could try to use the “loophole”in their favour.

“I want the debate to be held on the basic concept of a level playing field,” Dawson said.